Crash Course

Aleksander Audral Masters the Art of Falling While Free Skiing

‘It’s aimed at people who strive to push outside their personal comfort zone at any level,’ explains Niels Windfeldt, director of action sports film Crash & Learn. The film follows free-skier Aleksander Audral, as he flew and fell over Folgefonna glacier in Norway this June. It tells the story of how Aleksander grew up testing different extreme sports, and through that learned how to crash the hard way.

This film is an extension of a TV campaign for TineMelk, Norway’s biggest milk brand, which was expanded upon after Niels’ team felt that they wanted to tell a more comprehensive story about what it takes to perform in action sports on a professional level.

‘If you want to succeed you need to know how not to get hurt when you crash, no matter how extreme you are,’ Niels added ‘Aleksander shows us exactly that.’

We asked Niels a little more about the film:

The Plus: What inspired this video?
Niels Windfeldt: Most of the key personnel in Antimedia have a background in action sports on a competitive level. Being able to crash and avoid injury is therefore something we can relate to ourselves. When the advertising agency approached us with the idea we were instantly onboard with the idea.

TP: What are the most important things to keep in mind when shooting an extreme sports film?
NW: Have a good plan and don’t underestimate the weather. The more beautiful a location is, the more unpredictable the weather is.

TP: What kind of film did you aim to make?
NW: As I have personal experience with the theme of the film, I wanted to make the style real. I wanted to really show off how comfortable Aleks is with the setting of a big jump session.

In such a setting there is a lot of pressure to push your comfort level and perform something new for the cameras, which dramatically increases the risk of serious injury.

Aleks, a veteran in this game, is not only able to tackle this pressure, but he is also able to have fun at the same time. He is able to do that because he has learned how to deal with crashes and therefore can calculate risks precisely.